Top Free Agents: No. 15 Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Boston Red Sox's Jarrod Saltalamacchia gestures as he runs toward the dugout after his grand slam in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston on Friday, Sept. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
— AP

Boston Red Sox's Jarrod Saltalamacchia gestures as he runs toward the dugout after his grand slam in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston on Friday, Sept. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
/ AP

The hot stove season is around the corner. For those who can’t wait – and don’t have a rooting interest in this World Series – here’s a countdown of the top 20 free agents this offseason (one a day to get you into November):

15. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Age: 28

B/T: B/R

2013 team: Boston Red Sox

Key stats: .273 avg./.338 OBP/.466 SLG, 14 homers, 65 RBIs, 68 runs

Lowdown: Once a highly-touted prospect, Saltalamacchia’s walk year hasn’t truly been as good as it looks. Sure, his slashes were all career-highs, but so was his batting average on balls in play (BABIP). In fact, his .372 BABIP was 100 points better than it was during last year’s .222/.288/.454 slash and 50 points better than his career average. Still, it’s hard to ignore the 39 homers he’s hit over the last two years.